Thanksgiving Thoughts for You and Your Organization

I really love Thanksgiving. I tell people all the time that it’s my favorite holiday, and not just because of my family’s annual meal of pig stomach (if you tried it you would love it too) but because it is the perfect time to reflect on thankfulness and what it means.

As parents we try to help our children understand the meaning of gratitude. I am convinced that this can only be taught through modeling. Meaning, kids need to see gratitude in action and that starts with mom and dad.

In our home we do this by encouraging our children to share experiences with those that are much less fortunate. Back in January, I took my 16 year old daughter on a HOPE International trip to the Dominican Republic. We spent much of our time traveling into rural villages visiting with young kids. These children basically had nothing and yet they were so thankful and happy that we came to visit their homes. These kids and their remarkable attitudes made a huge impact on my daughter. She still talks about this trip and it clearly will influence her for many years to come.

This same modeling technique can also be applied to our businesses and employees. The current recession has impacted nearly every organization across the country. We, as leaders, obviously need to focus on short term survival, but at the same time we need to show gratitude for what we have. On the job, employees tend to model the behavior of their employers. Translating this to customer service means employees will treat customers as they have been treated.

Many organizations that have focused solely on short term survival are now experiencing employee morale at an all time low. These are the same employees that we, as business owners, put on the front lines of customer service. Now, more than ever is the time to show our employees how grateful we are for their support, dedication, and hard work.

My partners and I would like to thank our very dedicated employees for their service. We would also like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to our clients and friends.